A trip to the poles. No, not to North or South Pole. But to surreal winter landscapes in Central Europe where thousands of dead spruces are transformed into abstract ice sculptures during special weather conditions: The Frozen Poles.

Due to climate change the montane forests of the low mountain ranges are under stress. Large areas of spruce forests died because of storms and insect infestation. Not just the monocultural commercial forests, but also near-natural conifer forests on the mountain crests. The appearance of the landscapes was changed within just two decades. In 2018 enormous drought weakened even the forests that have repelled the environmental changes till now.

The good thing is that where those trees are allowed to die standing, they will be the hotbed for the next tree generation. Areas where the stems were removed need much more time for reforestation.

For me those woods became one of my favorite subjects. Especially in winter when frost and snow change the appearance of the pale stems into a surreal crystal world like from a foreign planet.